Carrying case equipped with lock-controlled attaching means



March 17, 1931. A. RBOUCHER 1,796,502

CARRYING CASE EQUIPPED WITH LbCK CONTROLLED ATTACHING MEANS Filed June22, 1928 Sheets-Sheet 1 flea/526 map 317M014 64x64 March 17, 1931. A. R.BOUCHER 1,796,502

CARRYING CASE EQUIPPED WITH LOCK CONTROLLED ATTACHING MEANS Filed June22, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ijy'iiii'l'iiii'l'iiiiii'iii A 7 at! a 15 an!I J9 .16 i I Patented Mar. 17, 1931 'FA'LFENT {OFFICE CARRYING CASEEQUIPPED WITH LOCK-CONTROLLED ATTACI-IING MEANS Application filed. June22, lacs. Serial No. 287,401.

The invention relates generally to carrying cases and more particularlyto that type of carrying case which is adapted to be used a locker andembodies means whereby it may be locked in place against a wall orsimilar structure.

The object of the invention is to provide a carrying case for tools,paraphernalia or equipment which is adapted to be placed on the wall ofa room and locked so that it cannot be removed except by the personholding the key for the case. By providing a case which is equipped withmeans to lock the case against the removal of the articles from thecase, and also with means for lock ing it to a wall or support, itbecomes possible for a workman to use the case for carrying his tools orequipment when desired, and also to lock the case in place so that itcannot be carried off by unauthorized persons. This makes it possible toutilize a carrying case as a locker.

Another object of the invention is to provide acombined locker and casein which the locking device for securing the case to a wall or supportis automatically controlled by the lock for the door of the case, sothat a single key will control both the locking of the case to the walland the locking of the door.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the detaileddescription.

The invention consists in the several novel features hereinafter setforth and more particularly defined by claims at the conclusion hereof.

In the drawings: Fig. l is a perspective of a case embodying theinvention, a portion being broken away for illustrative purposes, thecase being removed from the wallbracket to which it is adapted to belocked. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectionthrough the case while it is locked to the wall-bracket. Fig. a is asimilar View showing it removed from the wall-bracket.

Fig. 5 is a detail of the mechanism for locking the case to thewallbracket, the portion of the front plate being broken away, the partsbeing shown in position assumed when the case is removed from thewall-bracket.

Fig. 6 is a similar view showing the parts in position assumed when thecase is locked to the wall-bracket. 7 is a section on line 77 of Fig. 5.

Fig. Fig. 8

is a. section on line 88 of Fig. 6.

The invention is exemplified in a substantially rectangular sheet metalcase 10 having a bottom, side, top and back walls integrally formed orrigidly secured together and with a front opening 11 which is adapted tobe closed by a door 12 which is hinged to the case at 12.

This door provides access to the interior of the case, so that articlesmay be placed into and removed from the case. The door is hinged at itslower end to swing downwardly, and a key-operable lock 13 of anysuitable construction is secured to the inner face of the door adjacentits upper margin.

This lock is provided with a slid able locking bolt 13 which may beoperable by the key into position to lap the flange 14 at the front topcornerof the case to lock the door, so that the contents of the casewill be retained against unauthorized removal. A handle 15 is securedtothe top of the case so that it can be conveniently carried.

Studs 19 are rigidly secured to the bracket 16, project forwardlytherefrom, and are provided at their front ends with enlarged heads 20.The bracket 16 may be made of sheet metal.

The mechanism in the case for locking it to and supporting it from thewall-bracket comprises a pair of latches 21 which are pivotallysupported at 22 and are provided with holes 23, through which the headsof tie studs 19 are adapted to pass. The mechanism for locking the caseto the wall-bracket is preferably mounted in a pair of plates and 25which are spaced apart by plates 28 to provide working spaces for thelatches 21 and the other parts of said mechanism. Said plates have amounting for said locking mechanism and are rigidly secured in anysuitable manner to the back wall of the case. The back wall of the caseand plates 24 and 25 are provided ith holes 26 which are in registrywith the holes 23 of latches 21 respectively when the case isdisconnected from the wall-bracket, to permit the heads 20 and studs 19to pass through the back of the case and plates 24 and Slots 29 are ofsuilicient width to receive the studs 19, but insuflicient to receivethe heads 20 of the studs, extend up- "ardly from the holes 26 in theback-wall of the case and plates and 25, so that, after the studs havepassed through said openings and the case is lowered, tae studs willenter the slots 29, the upper ends of the slots resting on the studs, sothat the case will be supported by the studs, and will be held on thestuds by the heads 20 of the studs. Slots 3O communicate with theopenings 23 in the slots 21, and are of sufiicient width to receive thestuds 19. lVhen the latches are swung from their inoperative ion shownin Fig. 5 to their operative position shown in Fig. 6 as the case islowered relatively to the wall-bracket, the latches will swing intoposition to cause the studs 19 to pass into the restricted slots 30, sothat while the latches are secured against pivotal movement, the casewill be locked against vertical movement relatively to the wail-bracket.A spring 31 is applied to each latch 21 to yieldingly hold it in itsinoperative position shown in Fig. 5 and against a stop 32 which holdsthe latch so its hole 23 will register with the holes 26- in the plates24 and 25.

Bolts 33 are slidably mounted in the spacing plates 28 respectively, andtheir outer wncs are adapted to enter a recess 34 in the atches 21 tolock them against pivotal movement, as illustrated in F 6. Vhen bolts 3are withdrawn, as shown in Fig. 5, ate es 21 are free to swing to permitthe use to be lifted to bring the heads 20 of studs 19 into registrywith the opening 26 in plates 24 and 25 and opening 23 in latch 21, sothat the case can be moved forwardly off the studs and disconnected fromthe wal bracket. The bolts for controlling latches 21 are controlled bybolt 14 of the lock 13, so that when the bolt 14 is extended to lock thedoor 12 of the case, bolts 33 will be positioned to lock the latches 21,and when bolt 14 is retracted, the bolts 33 will be withdrawn to releasethe latches 21. For this purpose, a rod or shaft 36 has its rear endpivotally mounted in plate 25, and its front end in a lug 36 fixed tothe top wall of the case, and is provided at its front end with acrank-arm 38, the free end of which is eXte ded into the path of bolt14, and at its rear end with an arm 39.

A rocker lever 40 between plates 24 and is pivoted at 41. This lever isoperable by a link 42 which has its upper end pivoted, at 43, to theouter end of arm 39, and its lowa' end 44 hooked into an arm 45 of leverll), so that upward movement of arm 39 will operate bolts 33 outwardlyinto position to lock latches 21. Each of the bolts 30 has its inner endprovided with a hook 46 which engages an arm 47 of lever 40 so that theoperation of the lever 40 by the upward movement of arm 39 will operatebolts 33 outwardly. The hook connections between lever 40 and bolts 33and link 44 make it possible to form the lever of stampings to lower thecost of production. A spring 48 is applied to lever 40 to normally andyieldingly hold it into position to retract bolts Light springs 49 areapplied between plates 28 and bolts 33 to hold the hooks at their innerends in engagement with the hooks 47 of the lever 40. iVhile lever 40 isin its normal position, arm 38 will be lowered towards the lock 13 sothat when the bolt l3 is operated upwardly by the key, arm 38 will berocked upwardly so its shaft 36 will similarly lock arm 39. Thisoperation of arm 39 will lift the link 42 and rock lever 40 to shiftbolts 33 into position to lock the latches 21.

In use the case may be used for carrying purposes while it isdisconnected from the wall-bracket. When the door 12 is locked, itscontents will be retained against unauthorized removal from the case. When it is desired to support the case from the wall, the lock 13 will beoperated to withdraw its bolt 13. Arm 38 will then be released, so thatspring 48 will operate or hold lever 40 in position shown in Fig. 5, atwhich time bolts 33 will be withdrawn so that latches 21 will be freefor pivotal movement and will be held by springs 31 so their holes 23will be in registry with the holes 26 of the plates 24 and 25. The casemay then be lifted into position so the heads 20 of studs 19 of thewall-bracket will pass through plates 24 and 25 and latches 21. When thecase is released, its own weight will cause the studs 19 to enter theslots 29 in plates 24 and 25 and slots 30 in latches 21. WVhile the door12 of the case is open or while it is closed and the bolt 13 of thedoor-lock is withdrawn, the case will be supported from the wall-bracketand may be lifted a short distance to bring the heads 20 in registrywith openings 26 and 23 so the case can be moved forwardly off, anddisconnected from, the wall-bracket. When the case is suspended on thewall-bracket, and the bolt 13 of the door-lock is shifted into positionto lock the door 12, it will rock arm 38 up wardly to rock shaft 36 andoperate lever 40 to project bolts 33 into recesses 34:, and therebypositively lock the case to the Wallbracket. This locking of the case tothe wall-bracket results from the operation of the door lock.

The invention exemplifies a carrying case which is provided with a doorto provide access to its contents and a lock for the door to preventremoval of the contents with a device for locking the case to thewallbracket which is controlled by the door-lock, so that no separatelock is necessary for securing the case to the wall-bracket. The case isthus adapted to serve as a carrying case for the tools, equipment, orparaphernalia of workmen when desired, and which may be readily lockedto a wall-bracket or support when the case is not to be used forcarrying purposes, and also as a locker when the case is not being usedfor transporting purposes. The invention also exemplifies a combinedlocker and carrying case in which the door-lock controls the mechanismfor locking the case to a support.

The invention is not to be understood as restricted to the details setforth, since these may be modified within the scope of the appendedclaims, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In combination, a carrying case provided with a door and a lock onthe door for securing the door in its closed position, a fi xedsupporting bracket, and means carried by the case for locking the sameto the bracket comprising a spring-pressed latch, and means operable bythe locking bolt of the door-lock for securing the latch in its lockedposition.

2. In combination, a carrying case provided with a door and a lock forthe door, a fixed supporting bracket, a plate secured to the back of thecase, means for locking the case to the bracket comprising aspringpressed latch mounted on the plate, and key-controlled means forlocking the latch.

In combination, a carrying case provided with a door and a lock for thedoor, a i'ixed support comprising a stud provided with a head, andmechanism carried by the case for locking the same to the supportcomprising a latch to engage the stud in back of the head, and meansindependent of but operable by the locking bolt of the door-lock forlocking the latch in position to lock the case to the stud.

4. In combination, a carrying case provided with a door and a lock forthe door, a fixed support comprising a studprovided with ahead, a platesecured to the back of the case'having an opening for the stud, a latchcarried by the case and shiftable mounted movably on the plate andshiftable' to embrace the stud in back of the head, so as to lock thecase to the stud, and lock-controlled means for securing the latch inits: locked or stud engaging position.

5. In combination, a carrying case provided with a door and a lock forthe door, a fixed support provided with a stud having a head thereon, alatch carried by the case for securing the same to the stud, said latchbeing adapted to engage the stud in back of the head, a bolt for lockingthe latch, and a connection operable by the door-lock to shift the boltinto its locked position.

6. In combination, a carrying case provided with a door and alock forthe door, a fixed support provided with a stud having a head thereon, alatch for securing the case on the stud, said latch being adapted toengage the stud in back of the head, a bolt for securing the latch inits locked position, a plate on the back of the case on which the latchand bolt are mounted, and a connection operable by the door-lock toshift the bolt into its operative position.

7. In combination, a carrying case provided with a door and a lock forthe door, a fixed bracket provided with a pair of studs having headsthereon, and mechanism carried by the case for securing the same to thebracket, comprising latches to engage the studs in back of the heads,and locking devices for the latches controlled by the doorlock andadapted to retain the latches in their locked or stud engaging positionwhen said door-lock is manipulated into its locked position.

8. In combination, a carrying case provided with a door and a lock onthe door for securing the door in its locked position, a fixed bracketprovided with a pair of studs having heads thereon, latches carried bythe case for securing the same to the bracket, said latches beingadapted to engage the studs in back of the heads, and devices forlocking the latches operable by the locking bolt of the door-lock.

9. In combination, a carrying case provided with a door and a lock forthe door, a fixed bracket provided with a pair of studs having headsthereon, latches carried by the case for securing the same to thebrackets, said latches being adapted to engage the studs in back of theheads, bolts for locking the latches, and means operable by the doorlockfor operating the bolts.

10. The combination with a carrying case provided with a door and a lockfor the door, of a fixed support provided with a stud having a headthereon, a latch for securing the case on the stud adapted to engage thestud in back of the head, a bolt for securing the latch, a pair ofspaced plates secured to the back of the case, between which the boltand latch are mounted, and a connection operable by the door-lock toshift the bolt into its operative position.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 11th day of June 1928.

ALEXANDER RAYMOND BOUCHER.

